Ventilator



t. 16, 1951 F. M. LAMBERT VENTILATOR Filed Aug. le, 1948 llll Illoqumnnnnnonuh ounuouuuunu orneg Patented Oct. 16, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE 2 Claims.

The object of the invention is to provide improvements in ventilators, and particularly in the type which is especially adapted for use in windows of the size common to residences, though the principles involved may be employed in the design of ventilators to be used in any and perhaps all forms of openings, through which it is desired to have air currents pass with relative freedom, while preventing the passage of insects, water and most of the dust with which the air is frequently laden.

Another object is to provide a ventilator, which can be used as a temporary unitary placement within a surrounding frame, or as a permanent installation with or without such a frame.

A further object is to provide a device of this character, which will at all times permit a practically unrestrained passage of light rays as well as air currents, while water as in a driving rainstorm or from a garden hose, or the like, to all intents and purpose is positively prevented from passing.

Still another object is to provide a unit ventilator, comprising a preferably telescoping frame, and a sheet of transparent plastic or the like positioned therein, and provided with what might be termed T-shaped corrugations, in which the oppositely directed flattened outer portions are considerably wider than are their bases, and the outer portion of any one of which corrugations substantially overlaps the adjacent portions of two oppositely directed flattened corrugations, in order to provide areas that lie substantially in a common plane midway between the spaced planes of the said flattened outer portions, and through which areas Aextend a multiplicity of apertures for the passage of air.

And a still further `object is to provide for Ventilating purposes a corrugated sheet unit of preferably transparent plastic material, which is alternately reverselyfoldedV to form oppositely directed corrugations having flattened outer portions that overlap one anothen'and a multiplicity of perforations in Vtheir intermediate areaslying in a substantially common plane, said unit being extendable and retractable Vat will so as to accord with the transverselimits of the window or other opening which it is desired to span by said unit.

With the objects thus broadly stated, the invention comprises further details of construction and operation, which are hereinafter fully brought out in the'following description, when read in conjunction with thel accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a ventilator comprising one embodiment kof the invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of va fragmentary portion of the sheet Ventilating unit per se, showing its extendability; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary portion of the perforated sheet per se.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, one embodiment of the invention comprises oppositely positioned vertical end members I, and intervening telescoping members 2-3 and 4 5 located at the respective upper and lower ends of said end members. The members 2 and 4 are supported at the outer ends by one of said end members, and slidably receive the adjacent end portions of the members 3 and 5, which are supported at their outer ends by the other of said end members, thus forming a rectangular frame which may be varied in horizontal length (or width) at will. The end members may be of any desired construction, as for example that shown in Patent No. 2,205,123, issued to C. L. Metzgar and Francis M. Lambert jointly on AJ une 18, 194.0.

In this newer form of the device, a exible sheet 5 of preferably though not necessarily transparent material is secured within said frame, and from the method of forming this sheet, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, it can be extended within appreciable limits to permit the ventilator as a unit to conform to the widths of various sizes of windows or other types of openings. Essentially said sheet is alternately reversely folded so as to provide f Aoppositely directed flattened walls or corrugations 'l and 8 at opposite faces thereof, there being a substantial gap or space between adjacent corrugations facing in each direction although walls 'l and 8 are wider or of greater length in the longitudinal direction of the sheet, and the gaps between the corrugations in one direction being preferably equal to the corresponding gaps between the corrugations facing in the opposite direction, and the opposite sides of a corrugation 8,

for example, overlapping adjacent portions of a pair of neighboring corrugations 'l that face in the opposite direction.

From the general shape of the corrugations as illustrated., it will be noted that they are connected by common intervening base portions 9, in which are located closely grouped apertures lll, as illustrated by Fig. 5. At least the central column of these apertures lie in positions in said intervening portions that are substantially in the same plane, while the other apertures 1ocated upon the opposite sides of said central column lie, either in the same plane, or in but slightly curved neighboring areas of the sheet, so that all of said apertures open in opposite directions towards the flattened outer surfaces of the overlapping parts of adjacent corrugations. The result of this arrangement is that instead of air currents passing through. the ventilator as a unit in a practically direct path as is usually the case, such currents must follow a double reversely curved path as suggested by the arrows of Fig. 3, with the result that a driving rain, or even water directed by a hose line or the like towards one side of the ventilator, is unable to pass through said ventilator, but instead courses downwardly across the outer surfaces of same and if desired may pass from the frame through suitable apertures in the lower pair of frame members 4 and 5, or similarly through the other frame members 2 and 3 when the ventilator is inverted.

As far as the broad principle of the invention is concerned, it is to be noted that for permanently positioning the same in an opening, the flexible corrugated apertured sheetelement may be secured within such opening without the benefit of a frame, and when of a given precut size it can be made to effectively ll openings of different widths by horizontally elongating said element, as indicated by the dash-anddouble-dot lines in Fig. 4, the only minor difference being that the apertures 9 therein will in most cases be tilted slightly, but will still be directed towards the adjacent inner surfaces of adjacent oppositely directed flattened corrugations.

Referring to Fig.V 3, an improved method of shaping the end frame members is' here shown, together with a satisfactory means for securing the same to the opposite ends of the flexible sheet element. In this case, an ordinary window frame is represented by a vertical transverse surface I I and a beading I2 of rectangular cross section secured thereto. In the angle formed by the union of said frame pieces is secured the base and shank portions I3 and I4 of a preferably metallic strip that extends from said window frame inwardly, and is thence directed angularly at I5 to form a guide that is preferably parallel with said base portion I3.

The ventilator frame end member is composed of two closely parallel sections I 6 and I1 unitarily secured together in the plane of one of its outer surfaces, the outer of these sections being bent inwardly towards the central axis of said ventilator at I 8, and thence angularly into parallel sliding engagement at I9 with the shank portion I 4 of the guide, the opposite end portion of said outer frame section being bent angularly inwardly at 20 toengage the inner surface of an angular marginal portion 2I of said flexible sheet 6, and bind said marginal portion against an angular extension 22 of the other parallel section I6, said last mentioned section being bent in the opposite di,- rection at 23 parallel with its angular portion 22, and then reversely bent loosely at 24, to provide a space in which the free edge portion I 5 of said window frame guide can freely slide. The otherwise open space between the parallel portions 22 4 frames, while the ends 2| of the flexible sheet 6 are secured to the end members I, the upper and lower portions of said sheet are loosely positioned in the hollow channels of the upper and lower pairs of telescoping members 2-3 and 4-5, respectively, in order that as said ends are adjusted towards and away from each other, the upper and lower edge portions of said sheet are able to slide freely within the grooves of said telescoping members, as the corrugations of said sheet are transversely contracted or expanded between the planes of the opposite surfaces of said unit (Figs. 3 and 4).

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A ventilator sheet comprising relatively flat walls at opposite faces thereof, the walls at one of said faces alternating withthewalls of the other face, transversely disposed approximately ogeeshaped walls extending from each side edge of the first-mentioned walls of one face to the adjacent side edges of the first-mentioned walls of the other face, and said Walls at each face longitudinally of the sheet being of greater extent than the spaces therebetween, the portions of said approximately ogee-shaped walls in line with opposite relatively flat walls having Ventilating openings therethrough for protection by the said relatively fiat walls.

2. A ventilator having a frame, an expansive ventilator sheet therein comprising relatively flat Walls at opposite faces of the frame, the walls at one of said faces alternating with the walls of the other face, transversely disposed approximately ogee-shaped Walls extending from each side edge of the first-mentioned walls of one face to the adjacent side edges of the first-mentioned Walls of the other face, and said walls at each face longitudinally of the sheet being of` greater extent than the spaces therebetween, the portions Qf said approximately ogee-shaped walls in line with opposite relatively flat walls having ventilating openings therethrough for protection by the said relatively flat walls.

FRANCIS M. LAMBERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 229,535 Hunt, Jr. July 6, 1880 312,585 Seton et al Feb. 17, 1885 313,865 Hayes Mar. 17, 1885 1,156,895 Flipse Oct. 19, 1915 1,259,914 Seward et al. Mar. 19, 1918 1,531,448 Milam Mar. 31, 1925 1,826,606 Delaney Oct. 6, 1931 1,992,782 Smith Feb. 26, 1935 2,052,453 Dollinger Aug. 25, 1936 2,127,917 Hobbs Aug. 23, 1938 2,154,640 Romanoff Apr. 18, 1939 2,184,113 Calafati Dec. 19, 1939 2,190,683 Schaaf et al. Feb. 20, 1940 2,204,761 Lang June 18, 1940 2,205,123 Metzgar et al June 18, 1940 2,354,466 Levinsen July 25, 1944 2,440,468 Gerken Apr. 27, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 531,515 France Oct. 25, 1921 

